Moving over
What it takes
Your tree translates directly: folders stay folders, and the route you were repeating on every child moves up one level.
You already have the right idea. You deserve a client that keeps up with it.
mRemoteNG got there first: one tree, many protocols, inheritance down the branches. Vandle is that idea rebuilt on a native cross-platform shell, with routing and encrypted central state designed in rather than added on.
Credit where it is due
mRemoteNG is free, has held a tabbed multi-protocol workspace together for years, and its inheritance model is a genuinely elegant answer to repetitive connection config.
What changes
Four things you get that you did not have.
- Windows, Linux and macOS from one codebase, with the same inventory on each.
- Inheritance where it matters most: a folder can hand its route down to every connection inside it.
- Secrets encrypted at rest, with the key derived from your passphrase and plaintext only in memory.
- A file surface as a real protocol module, with a split view between two remote hosts.
Side by side
mRemoteNG and Vandle
| Aspect | mRemoteNG | Vandle |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| Connection store | A local XML file, optionally encrypted | A central store you point at, live-synced, secrets encrypted |
| Routing | Per-connection SSH tunnel or gateway | A route object, assigned or inherited, switchable at runtime |
| File transfer | External tools | A built-in file surface with remote-to-remote transfer |
And the rest of it
Four more protocols came along
Replacing one tool gets you five. Whatever else that machine speaks is already a row on the same record - and every one of them takes the route you assigned.
Web
Real browsing, properly routed
SSH
A terminal that keeps up
SFTP
Two remote panes, no detour
WebDAV
The other half of file transfer
RDP
Desktops on a native surface
Local
Your own machine, in the same list
Also compared